Solomon Islands empowers schoolchildren to see, hear, and move through assistive technology - World Health Organization (WHO)

A new open-source application developed by University of Prince Edward Island computer science graduate Bassam Kamal is rapidly gaining adoption in major health-care institutions and adaptive gaming programs across North America. Designed to simplify setup for the QuadStick, a mouth-operated controller used by individuals with quadriplegia, the software is streamlining clinical workflows and empowering gamers with physical disabilities. Kamal developed the initial concept for the QuadStick Configuration Manager during a user experience (UX) course taught by Dr. Christopher Power, Associate Dean, Graduate Studies and Research and professor with UPEI’s School of Mathematical and Computational Sciences. “Bassam took a long-standing barrier in adaptive gaming that was introduced in my user experience class and took it on as a problem he wanted to solve,” said Power. “Due to the time and care he took to understand the needs of players with disabilities, people around the world will now spend less time configuring their controller and more time playing.